A Whole New World
by fojg24-aka 24
Summary: The Centre is gone. Miss Parker and Jarod go on vacation to talk.


Disclaimers: "The Pretender" and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don't sue because I have no money.   


A Whole New World.   
By: 24 

  


Jarod stepped out onto the porch and into the sunlight of the cabin that they had rented for the week. He looked around and stared at the calmness of the water and smiled as the person on the bottom deck had caught his attention. He went down the steps and sat by the woman who was sitting on the dock. 

"Isn't it nice sitting in the sun?" 

"Yes it is." 

"I remember when I first escaped I just walked in the sun and turned my head towards it. It felt so good. I never felt the sun on my face before and it felt so warm." 

"You did go outside once remember? When you saw my mother." 

"I didn't remember that until Sydney got it out of my memory. I'm sorry that I didn't know about that." 

"It's not your fault. I remember that I was so angry with you because you didn't know about talking to my mother even if we did have the DSA of you two. It's Raines fault because he made you forget. I know it wasn't your fault." 

"You were so angry even if I kept on saying I don't know. You just kept on asking and didn't stop until I got really angry." 

"And then I caught you and took you to my house. I saw your face when you saw the DSA and I knew that I couldn't be angry after that." 

"I know that you want answers to you past and so do I. I want to know why they want me back so much. Why they weren't chasing Eddie and let him settle down to have a family. What the scrolls said about me. Who I am. I've been pretending to be anyone I want to be ever since I was stolen from my parents and I just want to know who Jarod is. I want to explore things that I've never done or eat what I've never eaten before." 

"What was the first thing that you thought of when you first escaped?" 

"Freedom. It felt so nice to do what you wanted to do and go where you want to go. Not being locked up in a room. Watching T.V. and watching movies. Being out in the sun and eating so many different things. It felt good not having to do Sims that hurt and killed people." 

"Why did you say that I was a Centre prisoner like you were? I was never locked up." 

"Just because you were never locked up under the world that you weren't a prisoner. You may have been free on the outside, but your bars were different." 

"I guess." 

She turned back towards the water and watched as a speedboat raced by and the water lapped at the pier. Then turned to see the houses on the other side of the lake. Another boat raced by with a water skier behind it. 

"Have you ever water skied before?" 

"No, I never had. Have you?" 

"Yes, I did when I was in college." 

"Oh." He looked at the water. 

"Do you ever wish that it would have turned out differently?" 

"I don't know. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I like helping people that would of never had help because I can. I just read through the papers and say I can help this person and just go to another pretend. The things that I didn't like were going to town after town because I couldn't afford getting caught. The other thing was that I couldn't find my family. I remember the first time that I had a flashback of being taken at night and brought to the Centre. It was when I tried to help the kidnapped boy. Remember that one when you almost caught me, but then I jumped out the window? I caught the kidnapper, but not before I almost beat him to death. I only stopped because I heard my mom say that she was so proud of me. I remember her saying that when she gave me a lunch box for school. I don't remember how old I was, but the next day was the day I was taken. I would also have known about Kyle. I would have known that Kyle was my brother instead of knowing that a year after I escaped." 

"I'm sorry Jarod." 

"It's not your fault Miss Parker. It was the Centre's fault." 

"I know, but I spent time trying to catch you to return you." 

"I know, but you never did. Like I said you were a Centre's prisoner just like I was." 

"I guess that you were right. I never saw myself as a Centre's prisoner. I'm so sorry that I called you a lab rat, rat boy or wonder boy." 

"You were only saying that because you couldn't afford to see me as a human being. Someone with feelings." 

"I'm sorry Jarod." 

"Not your fault. I know that you were sent away because your father didn't like you spending time with his number one possession." 

"They didn't treat you like a human did they?" 

"They didn't treat me like a child either. I remember being scared and alone sometimes and nobody came to comfort me. I had to do everything alone. The only bright spot in my life was you and even that they took you away." 

She looked at Jarod with his sunglasses on staring out towards the other side of the lake. He watched as a boat pulled up towards one of the houses opposite of them, but he really couldn't see that much because it was to far. He wondered what they were doing or saying. Did they have problems that they had or were they problem free? 

"Jarod what are your nightmares about?" 

"You still hear them?" 

"Yes." 

"I'm sorry about that." 

"It's not your fault that you have them. Even I have them sometimes, but not as much as you have them." 

"I don't want to talk about them." 

"Maybe you should talk about them because maybe they will go away." 

"I don't know. I mean they are always about different things. Like my Sims that hurt and killed people, sometimes they are about the day that I was taken, sometimes it's about when I was punished, sometimes its about the experiments that I've done or that were done to me." 

"They won't let you go even in sleep? Huh." 

"Yes. The Centre may be gone, but it still has a hold on us. That is one reason why I asked for you to come with me. One is so we can get away from all the Centre stuff, but we still talk about it. The other is I want the little girl that gave me my first kiss back because I miss my friend. The friend that didn't care that she was talking to a lab rat, the one that didn't care that the lonely little boy didn't know about the outside world and the one that was a light to the lonely little boy that made his life worth living because she was in it. I miss her and I want her back." 

"I think that she's slowly coming around Jarod. I think that the grown up little girl's illusions are shattering because of all the lies that surround her and the truths that you led her on and she' facing the truth of who she really is. She's been hiding so long because she was led to believe that you didn't like her anymore and you didn't want to see her. I've sent letters to you, but you never sent anything back. I miss the little boy who let me give him a first kiss. I know that you've never changed, but I have and it's time for the little girl to come out to learn to live. I loved talking to you to the naive little boy who was locked up under the world and you know what you still are naive and you're sometimes innocent. I like that never lose that Jarod. I see sometimes the wonder of your face when you discover something new. Something that I've seen before and took for granted. It's like seeing it for the first time through your eyes. You are so much like a little boy who never grew up. Like Peter Pan." 

"Peter Pan who's he?" 

"It's a fairy tale about a little boy in Never never land who never grew up. He stayed a little boy." 

"Oh, I'll have to read that." 

She looked at him and smiled as he smiled at her. "I like this just us two talking like this." Jarod replied as he stared at her. 

"I do to friend." 

He smiled wider at that. He looked at the water and saw a fish jump out near the pier. 

"Look a fish. I'll have to learn how to fish. I've never fished before." 

"You'll need a license first." 

"A license? Why do you need a license? You need one to drive a car, but to fish?" 

"You just need one. Why don't we get one today when we go to the store? We need some stuff anyways." 

"Sure when do you want to go?" 

"How about now." 

"Okay." Jarod jumped up and helped Miss Parker stand. They walked up the steps leading from the pier to the second deck of the cabin they were renting. Jarod grabbed his keys and they walked up the steps leading to the road and to their car. 

Jarod asked the person behind the counter all kinds of questions about fishing and fishing gear that Miss Parker just rolled her eyes and shook her head. When they were in the car Jarod turned to her. 

"I remember when I was on a pretend a young boy gave me a lure. I helped his father when he jumped in front of a bus because he thought that he killed a co-worker, but he didn't. The man was okay and the boy gave me a lure." 

"You definitely make lots of friends." 

"Yes that's one of the things that I liked about going from town to town. There are so many people to talk to. I never had so many people to talk to inside the Centre. There were you, Sydney and Angelo, but that was it. Then there was Kenny the janitor, but they killed him to get the disk to a sim I did." 

"I know I saw the DSA. I'm sorry about that." 

"It's not your fault." 

Jarod turned to stare out the window and watched the scenery go by. They got their groceries and walked down the stairs. They both put the groceries away and Jarod went back downstairs with his newly acquired fishing license, tackle box and fishing pole. He baited the pole just like the salesperson had told him to and then cast it. 

Miss Parker stood on the upper deck watching Jarod as he looked through the tackle box and get a lure to put on the pole. She watched as he cast the line and waited for a fish to bite. It didn't take him long as Jarod reeled up a fish and he put him in a box that was filled with water. She saw him smile as he caught his first fish. She remembered once when she saw her father fish and how serene he looked waiting for the fish to bite. He waited a long time for one to bite and when it did they had it for lunch. She watched as Jarod tried his hand at fishing and wondered how cruel the Centre was in denying him a chance to experience something a father and son should do. If the Centre wasn't so greedy than this wouldn't of been his first time fishing it would have been with his father. She remembered that her father had tried to teach her how to fish, but it was to boring and she didn't have it in her to sit and wait for a fish to bite. She shook her head as she thought of one more thing that the Centre did to take away from Jarod. 

Jarod waited a few more minutes and he caught another fish. He unhooked it and put it in the same box as the other fish. He cleaned everything up and took everything back upstairs. 

"Look Miss Parker I caught two fish for our lunch." 

"I see that." She said as she smiled at his happy face. 

"I have the perfect recipe for this." 

Jarod went into the house and quickly gutted the fish. He put lemon, butter, and herbs onto the fish and put it in tin foil. After that was done he went to the grill outside and put it in to cook. He went back inside and put a pot of rice to cook. When the fish and rice were done he got two plates out and plated both of them up. 

"This is good Jarod." 

"Thank you. I read it in one of the magazines that was left here." 

*****   
Later that night. 

Jarod was outside on the porch sitting on one of the deck chairs looking up at the stars as the twinkled in the dark sky. He turned his head towards the door as it opened. 

"What are you doing up Miss Parker?" 

"I heard you. Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine. Don't worry I know how to handle this." 

"This is the same time that you used to call me huh?" 

"Yes. When I got a nightmare I would call you just to talk." 

"Do you want to talk now?" 

"If you want to. You don't have to you can go back to bed you know. I can handle it. There were times that I had a nightmare and didn't talk to you." 

"It's okay I don't mind talking." 

"So what should we talk about?" 

"Don't know." 

"We'll think of something." 

They started talking and didn't stop until dawn broke and the sun came out. Jarod stared at the sunrise as the world was bathed in sunlight and the day began. 

"It sure is beautiful." 

She was going to reply that she seen it before, but then looked where Jarod was looking. She wanted to see it in new eyes too just like Jarod does. 

"Yes it is isn't it?" 

He turned to smile at her. "This is a whole new world for us. We can do whatever we want to do. We can go wherever we want to go. The world is waiting for us and we just have to grab it." 

"And I want to grab life and finally live it." 

"Me too Miss Parker." 

They both faced the sun and welcomed the new world where they didn't have to play the prey and the hunter because the prey and hunter were becoming friends just like they were when they were children.   


The End. 

  



End file.
